Love's Requiem
by Skyress8619
Summary: A late Valentine's Day story. It's finally Valentine's Day in Elrios, and everyone has mixed feelings getting presents and spending time with their loved ones. However, Raven's soul partner isn't there to be with him... Mainly Raven x Rena, but also Elsword x Aisha and one-sided Chung x Eve.


**Skyress8619 has signed in.**

**Skyress8619: Greetings, readers. This is not the first story I have written, but the first I have published for Elsword. The idea for this story has been lingering in my mind for… about 2 months, I believe. I just haven't had the time or the will to put it down on paper. Then I realised how much time there was left to write so I started. Elsword was really putting me off. The classes are below.**

**Elsword: Rune Slayer  
>Aisha: Elemental Master<br>Rena: Wind Sneaker  
>Raven: Veteran Commander<br>Eve: Code Empress  
>Chung: Tactical Trooper<strong>

**Disclaimer: I do not own Elsword. Elsword is owned by KOG Studios as well as its publishers such as Nexon and Kill3erCombo.**

Elsword groaned and stretched as his alarm clock went off before slamming his hand on the clock, silencing it. He sat up and glanced at his calendar which he usually did every morning. February 14th. As the red-head was still groggy he thought it was just another ordinary day. _Another day… hopefully I'll get to beat Raven in sparring this time…_ Then the realisation hit him like a truck.

It was Valentine's Day.

A wave of shock washed over him. His thoughts drifted over to the shops which were probably selling chocolate, causing him to almost drool. Then the town would be filled with people giving those chocolates out and confessing- he didn't let his mind think about that anymore. And then his mind went to Aisha.

That washboard, short, grape-head of a girl was the person he had a crush on for El knows how long. He couldn't even remember when he had developed it. Luckily she usually sat in her room studying magic and not sparring him often; her physical appearance would distract him, which would often cause him to get hit. Chain Lightning and Magic Missile hurt a lot.

The Elgang lived together in a mansion in Ruben that was donated by the towns they had helped, with large amounts coming from Velder and Hamel. Luckily the Cobo Service existed; otherwise transportation of materials would have been an issue. Elsword quickly got dressed in his normal Rune Slayer attire before exited his room and into the corridor.

Immediately the smell of breakfast came to his senses. He dashed downstairs towards the smell and found Rena in the kitchen as usual.  
>"Morning, Elsword!" She piped up cheerily, but there was a mischievous side to it and the red-head could tell what it was about. Since it was Valentine's, everyone pretty much had to give gifts to the ones that they loved.<p>

Aisha, Chung, Eve and her servants were waiting at the dining table. The Nasod Queen had already been served tea by Ophelia, who was standing behind her. Oberon stood the same way. Elsword joined them.  
>"So, uh, it's Valentine's, hey?" Chung attempted to start a conversation to break the awkward silence.<br>"It is indeed. According to my database the tradition is to send gifts to a person that you love. Are you all going to participate?" Eve spoke in her usual monotone voice.

Neither Aisha nor Elsword wanted to answer that question, but they did anyway.  
>"Yes." They said at the same time.<br>"Who are you going to send a valentine to?" Chung asked, a mischievous grin starting to form on his features. The Rune Slayer and Elemental Master both blushed.  
>"Okay, don't need to tell me. I can already assume." They blushed harder.<p>

"Breakfast is ready!" Rena served their meal. It consisted of an omelette, toast, sausages and small salad. Elsword got an extra helping; everyone knew how hungry he could get.  
>"I'll go get Raven now. He went out training." The front door shut behind her.<br>"Training? How does he get up so early and not be sleep-deprived? And how does he stand it? I hate getting up early!" The red-head stuffed his mouth with food.  
>"He probably sleeps well." Aisha answered before eating, looking much more sensible than Elsword.<p>

Rena walked into the forest surrounding their home, looking for the raven-haired man (pun unintended). A short while later she caught sight of him, and almost immediately blushed. Raven was doing one-handed pushups on his normal arm, but he was shirtless. The item of clothing was hung up on a nearby tree on a fairly low branch. The elf spent what seemed like forever gazing at his well-toned body.

Finally she snapped out of the trance and remembered what she was here for. Rena calmed herself down as much as possible and approached Raven, who noticed her.  
>"Morning, Rena. Is this about breakfast?" The Veteran Commander stood up.<br>"It's ready and everyone else is eating. You should come inside." Raven noted that she sounded slightly nervous. What could it be?

Well… the present day being Valentine's Day could be a factor. He shook the thought aside and put on his shirt, only zipping it up half way like he usually did. No one minded, anyway. The elf had already disappeared from sight, probably to put his breakfast down on the table. Raven took his blade from the tree it was leaning against and headed back inside as well.

Everyone seemed to be unusually quite when he arrived. The plate of breakfast was waiting for him, so he sat down and began to eat. Rena, who was a vegetarian, had more salad instead of meat and ate in silence as well. It was obvious that the Elgang was rather uncomfortable.  
>"Are you guys going to skip some training to buy a Valentine for someone?" Rena piped up, the question aimed more at Raven.<p>

"Um… maybe…" Elsword replied nervously. Valentine's Day was the perfect time to confess, and right now he had the courage to do it.  
>"If I feel like it." Aisha replied so smoothly that no one suspected her at first.<br>"I don't have anyone to send a Valentine to." Raven said. Rena felt her heart almost tear apart those words. It meant that he didn't return the love that the elf had for him.

"Well…" Chung scratched his head nervously. "If I have time, I might." Wait. Who could he have a crush on? Was it someone who wasn't in this room?  
>"I don't have such emotions to anyone, so I will not participate in the tradition." Everyone expected that answer from the Nasod, although everyone already knew that her emotion circuit was completely operational. It just had very limited capabilities.<br>"What about you, Rena?" Elsword asked and got no reply. Rena was still recovering from shock.

"Hey, hello? You there?" The elf snapped out of her thoughts.  
>"I don't have anyone, so I'm not buying a gift." She lied. Sending a valentine to Raven was now pointless. The Veteran Commander turned to Rena.<br>"Is something wrong? You sounded a little upset." He had picked up that tone in her voice. And he sounded concerned, too.

"Ah, n-nothing's wrong." The Veteran Commander knew something was up, but he didn't want to pry anymore and continued to eat. Soon everyone was finished. Elsword went back to his room to get his sword and start training. Aisha also retreated back to the room to read. Eve and her servants headed towards her workshop, where she continued to research something; no one knew what it was. And Chung went to her workshop to as it was time to get his regular maintenance.

As Rena began to take the dishes back to the kitchen Raven did the same.  
>"I'll help." And he was helping, with the task and also with the elf's emotions, although the reasons were unknown to Raven.<br>"Thanks, Raven." She still sounded down. They cleaned up the kitchen together, and it was during this that Rena started to think.

How the heck had she fallen for him in the first place? And since when? She didn't remember. She remembered when he glared at her during the fight on the Black Crow. She remembered him staring at her after the fight. Those golden eyes were filled with pain and anger. They had freed him from the control device in his Nasod arm and he joined, wanting redemption.

Those golden eyes seemed to never soften except when she was around. And he never seemed to smile except when she was around. His smile was so loving and sweet; Rena wished he would smile more often instead of that serious expression he kept on most of the time, ready to shoot a death glare at anything that annoyed or angered him.

She remembered when Elsword teased Raven for growing his hair out. He looked nothing like a girl in her eyes; at the time it was barely noticeable because it was tied back. He started to wear some sort of uniform; he wouldn't reveal what it was. But that was alright for the elf. The Nasod claw was now able to shoot fire and bullets; he seemed quite good at using it too. As if he had experience with fire arms before. (pun unintended)

Then he changed his uniform and got a new plating on his arm. There was a crow at the elbow, and Rena wondered if that symbolised anything, as well as the crow on his belt. The sword was also crow themed. Elsword laughed even harder seeing Raven let his hair out, which was now a little below waist length and had a red streak at the top; no one knew where he got that from.

But those golden eyes had stayed the same. And so did that smile. Elsword came rushing back downstairs with his sword.  
>"Hey, Raven, can I spar with you? Maybe I'll beat you this time."<br>"Sure, why not? Rena, do you want to come with us?" The elf pondered for a second.  
>"Okay. I'll watch."<p>

The Rune Slayer and Veteran Commander were both exhausted. None of them seemed to have the upper hand, and the long battle had tired them both out. Elsword raised his sword again.  
>"Luna Blade!" A blue sword appeared above him and rushed towards Raven, who side-stepped and charged at his opponent to close distance.<br>"Rising Slash!" Again Raven dodged as the blades rose from the ground.

Elsword blocked the first downward slash with ease before his opponent sped up the slashes. It was obvious that Raven was tired as he wasn't slashing as fast as before, but the Rune Slayer was tired too. The sword felt so much heavier. As he slashed downwards the Veteran Commander dodged instead and exploded a round of gunpowder right in front of him, causing a cloud of fumes that blinded Elsword momentarily.

He knew how to counter it, anyway. The red-head jumped backwards into the air, and noticed Raven had built distance. This could only mean one thing. The Veteran Commander sunk his blade into the ground and flaming bullets shot out of his raised arm.  
>"Revolver Cannon!" Elsword dodged using aerial manoeuvres, managing to dodge all six bullets. As Raven was recovering from the recoil the Rune Slayer closed distance, readying another attack.<p>

"Wind Blade!" A magic blade shot out from behind Elsword, almost hitting his opponent in the shoulder. Raven, with his arm still ignited, threw a punch. The Rune Slayer stepped back a little, making the punch fall short. As he was about to launch a Splash Explosion when the explosion from the punch hit him, causing him to fly back a little. Raven moved up quickly and threw another punch. Not making the same mistake twice Elsword side-stepped before slashing.

The Veteran Commander swung his fist around, deflecting the sword attack and slashing back, the blade coming very close to Elsword's face. He reeled back and stopped attacking, knowing that he had lost. Yet again.  
>"Elsword. You know you could have gotten killed." Rena walked up to the two.<br>"Yeah, I know."  
>"Why did you let yourself lose?"<p>

"I was-"  
>"You can't use the fact that you were exhausted as a reason." Raven cut in. "In a real fight I know you wouldn't have lost like that. You would have quickly summoned a rune to blow me away and create some distance. Even if I'm a friend you shouldn't let your guard down during training. Are you afraid of hurting me? You've been losing lately."<br>"Well… I guess a little."  
>"If you keep it up you'll eventually act like that in a real fight. Don't be afraid to go all out on me; I know how to take care of myself."<p>

"Okay then." Elsword huffed. "Do I get a break?"  
>"… Alright. Just sit over there on that tree stump."<br>A light breeze blew across the forest clearing that was their sparring ground, cooling Elsword and Raven.  
>"Raven?" Rena asked.<p>

"Hmm?"  
>"We really should spar sometime. I've only been practicing and not actually facing any real opponents.'<br>"We can do it now if you want."  
>"Ah, no, you're exhausted and I don't want you pushing yourself-ah, I mean-" Rena was flustered.<br>"Are you worried about me?"

"Uh…"  
>"Thank you, then I'll take your advice and spar with you once I rest a bit." Raven turned to return to their mansion. "You can get yourself ready." He disappeared from the clearing. Elsword grinned. <em>She likes him. She must have been lying before when she said that she didn't have anyone to give a gift to.<em> The red-head waited for the Veteran Commander to disappear before he heaved himself up and approached Rena, who seemed to be calming herself down.

"Hey, Rena."  
>"Yes, Elsword? What is it?"<br>"I heard. Aren't you going to warm up or something? I can help."  
>"It's alright. You can take your rest."<br>"You looked like you were trying to calm down before. Why?" Elsword held back a smirk as the elf hesitated.

"Umm… I don't really know myself actually…"  
>"Nah, it's because you like him, right?" Rena flushed.<br>"H-how can you tell?"  
>"Sure, you worry about the safety of all of us, but you seem to worry about him the most. Like a mother." The elf gave up.<p>

"Actually, yes, I like him." Rena sighed before smirking. "And you like Aisha, do you?"  
>"To make it fair, yes I do like Aisha." Elsword confessed. "Are you really not going to buy anything for Raven?"<br>"Well, there's no point giving him anything. I mean, he doesn't like me back…" That explained Rena's shock at the table earlier.  
>"Come on, are you really that thick-skulled?"<p>

"What did you just call me?" Rena's signature murderous aura appeared. Elsword knew she would react like that, but he had more to say.  
>"Well, I don't really know how to say it, but can't you tell that Raven has a fondness of you? If I was the one telling him to take a break he probably won't listen. And that pretty much applies to everyone else. But if you're the one who's telling him to take a break then he'll do it. Like what happened just then. It's like he has a soft spot for you." The elf took in the words of the red-head and the aura disappeared.<p>

"… Really?"  
>"Yeah! It's so obvious as an observer."<br>"Thanks, Elsword. That really did comfort me."  
>"So, are you going to buy anything?"<br>"I've already made chocolates." The Rune Slayer could not believe what he just heard.  
>"Then how the heck could I not smell them?"<p>

"Because I got up really early to make them, making sure I got up earlier than Raven."  
>"No wonder. Give them to him."<br>"But, what if he doesn't like them? What if he doesn't accept them?" Rena looked rather upset.  
>"Aww, come on, Rena. It's from you. Of course he'll accept them. Why wouldn't he?"<br>"Because… well, he's not the type to like chocolate…"

"He'll at least try them! And you're such a good cook! I don't see how the heck he could not like the chocolate that you make."  
>"But it was my first time…"<br>"Stop. Worrying. You're just making yourself feel worse. Being the perfectionist you are, I don't think you would stuff up anything at all."

"… Thanks, Elsword. Wait, what if Raven lied at the table, too?"  
>"You mean about him not having anyone to send a valentine to?"<br>"Yes, what if he's with someone else?" The very thought could make Rena cry. Elsword paused, as if he was thinking up something to say.  
>"Why would he be with someone else?" That was all the red-head said.<p>

"How would I know the reasons?"  
>"Can you think of any?"<br>"Umm… no…"  
>"He wouldn't be here if he was hooked up with someone else, right?"<br>"Umm… Maybe…"

"Exactly! He can't be with anyone else!" Elsword exclaimed. "So either he told the truth or he lied and is wanting to send a gift secretly to you!"  
>"He's not the kind of person to lie, Elsword. I could tell that he was telling the truth."<br>"But he might not be sending you a gift because maybe he doesn't have the guts to confess. He could detect the tone in your voice earlier and could tell that you were upset."

"Wait… Elsword, how are you this helpful about this topic?"  
>"Huh? What do you mean?"<br>"It's like you have experience or something." Rena smirked as the red-head's face turned into a similar shade of his hair.  
>"No, I haven't even confessed yet! And no, I'm not a player and I haven't gotten with anyone else before!"<p>

"Are you going to confess today?"  
>"Umm… Yeah…"<br>"Good on you."  
>"Rena?"<br>"Yes?"  
>"I, umm, kind of helped you get your confidence back to give him a gift and confess… Is it alright if you help me with something?"<p>

"Well, what is it?"  
>"I'm going to town to buy something for Aisha, but I don't know what type of chocolate to get her since there's so much out there…"<br>"You don't know the good chocolate because you don't take your time to enjoy the taste of course."  
>"And also because I don't want to get fat!"<br>"You train every day, Elsword. How can you get fat?"

"…"  
>"Okay then, I'll help you. After I spar with Raven. And to lower suspicion we say that we're going to town to buy chocolates so you can eat them and since the shops sell the good chocolate at this time you want to buy some."<br>"I'm not that of a pig!" Rena laughed.  
>"Everyone knows that you are."<p>

"Hey!"  
>"Okay, I'll drop the subject. You can go and rest more and I'll start warming up." Elsword walked back to the tree stump, sat down with his sword and watched the elf practice her kicks.<p>

Meanwhile Raven was lying on his bed in his room, not feeling at all tired but just exhausted from the fight. As he was alone his mind began to wander. Why did Rena sound upset back at the breakfast table about not having anyone to send a valentine to? Did she not enjoy being single? He rewind a little back to what he said about not having anyone to send a valentine to.

He didn't want anyone to know that he really did have someone, but it wasn't anyone in the Elgang. His day had already been planned and sparring with the elf didn't ruin anything; just stalled it out a little. But Raven was alright with that. He was going to go to down to the store and buy those same flowers…

_Flashback_

"_Raven!" He smiled at that familiar voice that he loved so much. He had just come back from work; there wasn't much to do other than paperwork and he would finish the rest tonight. The sun was just about to set.  
>"Yes, Seris?" She always made him smile. Almost every single time he saw her the smile would creep onto his features. <em>

"_I found a really good place where we should go! And thanks for Valentine's Day present! The chocolates were really delicious and… I ate most of them. Sorry for not sharing them with you." An apologetic tone was in her voice and her features changed accordingly. Raven chuckled.  
>"The gift is yours. You don't have to share them with me; I don't mind if you eat them all." <em>

"_Thanks, Raven. Want me to show you that really special place I found?"  
>"Sure. Lead the way."<br>Seris took Raven's hand and suddenly started to run.  
>"Hey, you almost tripped me!"<br>"You should be able to catch up; you're a mercenary captain after all!" She giggled; it was music to his ears._

_Soon Raven found that they were running through a forest. He knew that it was a very large one; a part of the border was right next to the capital prison. For now it was just a regular forest, but soon it would be the place where it would all happen…  
>"Here we are!" The forest ended and they found themselves on a small cliff overlooking a sight that would never leave Raven's memory.<em>

_It was a vast field of green and blue that extended to as far as the eye could see. A breeze swept through it, the colours swaying with it and the sun's warm rays only added to the beauty of the scene. Plus the hues of pink and orange in the horizon really made Raven stop and admire the sight before him; he wasn't the kind of person to gaze at natural beauty.  
>"It's so nice here, isn't it? And it doesn't look like anyone else is here… I thought that there would be heaps of people here because it's Valentine's Day." He snapped out of his thoughts.<em>

"_It really is…" Raven turned to Seris. "How did you find this place?"  
>"Umm… I went on a little bit of exploring in the forest and I arrived at this…" She knew what was coming.<br>"Didn't I tell you not to go venturing out by yourself like that? You could have gotten yourself kidnapped or killed!"  
>"Sorry, Raven, I'll promise not to do it again."<em>

"… _Let's talk about that later. For now, let's enjoy the view." They were silent for a few moments that really felt like forever. Finally Seris turned to Raven.  
>"… Raven?"<br>"Yes?"  
>"You know, we've been dating for quite a while now, and… " Nervousness was in her voice and she had pink lightly rushed on her face, although Raven couldn't see it.<br>"Yes?"_

"_Umm…We haven't even kissed yet." Now it was his turn to blush. He tried to turn his mind elsewhere so Seris couldn't see the blush.  
>"Seris, what are these blue flowers called? They're very pretty."<br>"They're called forget-me-nots. They're my favourite flowers now that I've seen this view."  
>"I forgot to buy you a bunch, sorry."<br>"What are you apologising for, silly?" The change of topic wasn't helping._

"_Huh?"  
>"I only just told you! There's no need to apologise."<br>"I'll remember to get a bunch for you next year." Little did he know at that time that the woman that stood beside him, the woman that he loved so much wouldn't be there with him next year.  
>"So, it's Valentine's Day." Seris said after a pause.<em>

"_Umm…" Raven was getting nervous and scratched his head with his left arm; his human left arm that wouldn't be there in the future.  
>"Let's not forget this moment, okay?"<br>"Of course not, Seris." The two sat down next to each other, hand in hand and their fingers entwined. _

He and Seris had kissed shortly after that, and he still hadn't forgotten the feeling. Raven felt a tear threatening to spill; her face was clouded over the entire flashback, and he had told her that he wouldn't forget. _I'm so sorry…_ Then his mind immediately went to Rena. She looked so much like her, at first he thought it was really Seris when they first met while Raven was under Nasod control on the Black Crow.

Now he couldn't tell the difference between their appearances, and he felt so ashamed of himself. And he had broken his promise about giving her a bunch of forget-me-nots the next year on Valentine's Day. Sure, he had people to blame, namely Alex and the Nasods, but he had broken his promise. At that time he was probably on the Black Crow; El knows how long he slept in that Nasod capsule after he was dragged off.

This year he had decided to make up for it. To give Seris that bunch of forget-me-nots that he had promised several years ago. Yes, he had lied to the Elgang about not giving anyone a valentine, but he didn't want anyone to know about it. Especially Rena. Sighing, Raven sat up and decided that the elf had been waiting too long. He took his blade and walked out of the house, rested well enough to spar.

"Hey, Rena." Elsword called from his sitting place.  
>"Yes?"<br>"Don't warm up too much. It'll just tire you."  
>"I know. I've just finished. Raven shouldn't be too long."<br>"Oh and before he comes."

"Yes?"  
>"I seriously want to see you kick his ass."<br>"… Literally?"  
>"It'll be funny if you took it literally."<br>"If I was aiming a kick from the backside I would be aiming behind the knees, not as his… butt."

"Well you can decide if you want to tease him. I don't even know how he'll react. He wouldn't dare rage at you…"  
>"Okay, Elsword. He's coming." And Rena was right. Raven was walking towards them and entered the forest clearing, looking a lot less exhausted than before.<br>"Hey, Raven!" Elsword called. "Did you actually fall asleep?"

"Fall asleep? Why would I? It's just a short break." Raven called back before turning to Rena, who was displaying a warm smile.  
>"You rested up?" The elf asked.<br>"I'm ready." The two took their positions on either side of the forest clearing.

"Okay! I'm the judge! Whoever forfeits, is too exhausted to move or knocked out loses! Start!" Elsword yelled, happy to be judging the battle. Raven and Rena charged at one another, soon engaging in a battle more intense than Elsword's one.

"Damn, you're good." Raven said between pants. Both sides were exhausted but none of them were willing to give up.  
>"Since when was I ever worse than this?" Rena sounded stronger. The Veteran Commander dug his blade into the ground and raised his Nasod arm.<br>"Revolver Cannon!" Six flaming bullets shot out of it in rapid succession, almost catching the elf off guard.

The Wind Sneaker dodged easily and almost landed a hit while Raven was recoiling. He swung his arm around to deflect an incoming kick from the air before a barrage of kicks came at him. The elf's boots were tough, designed to withstand the sharp edge of a blade so she could fight against armed opponents. Raven could only block with his blade and arm; Rena wasn't giving him a chance to make a counter-attack.

Before she was about to end the battle with a kick that she knew her opponent couldn't block, the Veteran Commander exploded gunpowder right in front of her, distracting her for a split second as a cloud of fumes appeared. This gave Raven enough time to get into the air and launch a firebomb towards the ground.  
>"Harpoon Spear!" Rena recovered just in time to leap into the air, dodging the attack.<br>"Crescent Kick!" Shockwaves travelled towards Raven who countered each one with grenades.

They both landed, the elf making a fast dash forward and kicking, her foot meeting a Nasod arm.  
>"Violent Attack!" An upwards kick got the arm out of the way and then the blade. Finally she landed an upwards kick, her foot connecting to Raven's stomach and launching him upwards before she kicked diagonally towards the ground. The Veteran Commander hit the ground hard, a dust cloud forming where he landed.<p>

"Yeah! Go Rena!" Elsword cheered but just as he did that flaming bullets came from the dust cloud, one very close to scorching Rena's hair. The bullets sprayed everywhere, forcing the elf to back off in order to dodge easier. A breeze blew the dust cloud away and there Raven was standing, looking like the elf hadn't even hit him previously. The elf thought she had significantly weakened him; a kick to the stomach hurt. _He's a lot more hardy than I thought._

She wanted to facepalm knowing she could have hit an even more sensitive area but the thoughts were immediately shaken aside as Raven was now charging at her with both his arm and blade ignited. Rena knew that she wouldn't be able to block those attacks without getting herself burnt. The Veteran Commander slashed and punched with the Wind Sneaker dodging each blow.

A sudden explosion occurred after a punch, hitting Rena and sending her into the air. Now that she had some distance she sent more shockwaves down at her opponent, who simply countered using more punches. With the claw still ignited Raven leapt up and tried to punch but she dodged and landed a sweeping kick to the side, causing the Veteran Commander to fly across the field.

He landed on his feet, but the kick did weaken him. Quickly recovering Raven threw a handful of napalm grenades. Rena dodged them easily, but her opponent didn't intend for the grenades to land. A considerable amount of fire (that didn't spread, of course. The fire is only burning on the napalm) was now spread across the field, restricting the elf's movements and also some of her opponent's.

Rena knew that the fire was temporary, but it would be a big hindrance while it was there. Being surrounded by fire she leapt into the air before raining down arrows on Raven. He ran across the field, dashing through small tuffs of fire that he could get through without getting burnt. The Veteran Commander could tolerate fire much better than the elf being a user of fire and so could use the current field to his advantage.

Raven was much closer now and leapt up into the air towards the elf. Rena tried to land a downwards kick but her target dodged, continuing to sail upwards into the air. She almost landed on fire and staggered. That gave enough time for the Veteran Commander to rain down more napalm grenades. The Wind Sneaker jumped and dodged, and each grenade that landed on the ground either made the fires stronger or created new areas of flame.

Finally, the elf found herself surrounded by fire with no safe place to land if she jumped other than where she was standing now. Raven stood at the edge of the field and it looked like he was clearly going to win.  
>"Ignition Crow!" The blade lit on fire and the Veteran Commander summoned a rather small flaming crow that travelled quickly towards the elf. Knowing that it would do damage she leapt up into the air, only to find that now there was no safe place to land.<p>

The edge of the battlefield was too far for Rena to boost herself. She tried to take her mind off the fire below her and focus on how to hit Raven. Only one thing came to her mind.  
>"Phoenix Strike!" A large, fiery phoenix shot towards the Veteran Commander and because of the rather close range it looked like it would hit. He quickly threw himself sideways, performing a roll before standing on his feet, unscathed.<p>

At first it looked like Raven was going to jump and catch Rena so she wouldn't burn but the fire went out as she landed. The grass was a little singed but otherwise alright. The elf landed gracefully on the ground as her opponent charged at her before jumping into the air. Raven shot a firebomb down onto the ground, the explosion almost hitting Rena but she had jumped into the air just in time.

Her downwards kick was blocked by a blade but she followed with an upwards kick, causing her to do a backflip in the air and launching Raven into the air, in turn making him flinch. Rena quickly jumped back into the air and used both her legs for a powerful sweeping kick, knocking the Veteran Commander to the other side of the field. He tumbled but he didn't look like he was stopping himself. And when he finally stopped he was on his side and wasn't making any effort to get up.

_Crap… What did I do?_ Rena rushed over. _He can't be faking. He's not the kind of person to use tactics like that…_ And when she reached him his eyes were closed.  
>"Raven! Wake up!" The elf shook the Veteran Commander, who didn't even stir. "Raven!" Panic was beginning to rise.<br>"Chill, Rena. You just knocked him out." Elsword walked over to her.  
>"How do you know?"<p>

"You kicked him across his stomach and it looked like he hit his head when he hit the ground, even though he was trying to stop himself." Rena sighed in relief.  
>"For a second I thought I beat him up too much."<br>"Nah. He can take a lot more hits than he looks. Don't judge his survivability even though he seems less bulky than the usual men you see walking around in town." The elf looked at the unconscious Veteran Commander. He really looked so much slimmer than the usual townsfolk. And he looked physically weaker, too.

"Hngg…" Raven stirred.  
>"Raven, you okay?" Rena asked with a concerned tone. He opened his eyes, those brilliant gold orange eyes, before he sat up and rubbed the side of his head with his human hand.<br>"… My head hurts, but that's it. I think I hit it on the way down when you kicked me because the last thing I remember is falling."  
>"I'm sorry."<p>

"Don't worry about it. Nothing serious since it's just sparring."  
>"But I could have seriously injured you!"<br>"Are you worried about me?" Rena flushed and turned away so Raven couldn't see her face.  
>"Just that I don't like you getting hurt- wait, I mean-"<br>"Well, I'm fine, but also exhausted. You should take a break too." The elf had just calmed down and turned to face him again only to see him give her one of those rare warm smiles, causing her to blush harder and turn away again.

The Veteran Commander stood up.  
>"I'm going back. I have some thinking to do." Shortly after he disappeared into the forest followed by Rena and Elsword.<p>

As Raven lay on his bed he went through the plan for the day for what seemed like the millionth time. It was nearing midday and he would soon have to go down to Velder to buy those flowers for Seris. He always forgot why he would buy those flowers and not pick them from that field where they shared their first kiss. Because it was destroyed by the demons…

_Flashback_

_Raven had finally managed to get some privacy from the rest of the Elgang. It was sunset now and he wanted to go down to watch the beautiful sunset on that field. To forget everything that was happening. But he knew that Seris was gone, and she was gone forever. At least he wanted to remember her and that moment that had never left his memory. He hoped that he would remember and take it to his grave._

_He was almost there. As he ran through the forest he could smell smoke and see haze. His heart rate accelerated. _What the heck was going on? I'm pretty sure there they said that there weren't any fires in the forest that would be threatening the suburbs of Velder… _Now that he had reached the small cliff the sight made him gasp._

_The first thing that reached him was the strengthened scent of smoke and fire. The entire field was completely destroyed and whatever remained of the flowers were slowly burning in flame. The sound of laughing demons also came to his ears.  
>"Hahaha! Some real destruction finally done. That was heaps of fun; those flowers really pester me." One said.<br>"Same, using fire and destroying stuff with it is so fun!"_

_Raven felt his rage rise at the sight and what he heard. The colours of the sunset seemed to only add to the fire, and the Veteran Commander tried to imagine the scene before all the destruction unfolded. He couldn't. And Seris was gone. He couldn't imagine her standing beside him; he couldn't even remember her face._

_The rage was building even more, and he didn't even want to suppress it. He wanted to let it all out; let it destroy those bastards that destroyed his most treasured place. How many demons were here right now? He didn't know, but he hoped that there were many. He wanted to destroy all of them, destroy every single one of them for not only burning such a beautiful field down, but also for all of the destruction that they caused to Velder._

_Yes, destroy them, give them a taste of their own medicine. And they tend to use fire a lot, too. The Veteran Commander was experienced with fire. Fire was one of his weapons, as well as the physical blows from his blade and Nasod arm. They were using fire for evil, he was using it for good. He wanted to go and burn down all of their structures, all of their defences, everything. He was going to burn down everything they had._

"_Hey, there's someone there." The demons looked up at him. The Veteran Commander was there, his eyes almost matching the fire that would soon burn the remainder of the field. He jumped down from the cliff, and the demon's prepared for combat. There was a considerable amount of demons there.  
>"Attack!" There were many Kenaz there as well. The demons appeared to be commanding the spirits as they threw their powerful flame attacks at Raven.<em>

"_Yeah, that ought to have burnt that puny human to nothing!" There was only fire where the Veteran Commander once was. When they saw a shadow within all that flame their features turned to surprise.  
>"What? But that amount of fire should have easily burnt that thing into ash!" The shadow walked forward, only to reveal that Raven was rather unharmed, his blade and arm ignited. <em>

"_I am a user of fire," He began, completely stepping out of the fire, the orange highlights on his uniform glowing from the heat. "You all use fire for evil, I am very aware of that." His golden orange eyes blazed like the fire behind him. "And I can't forgive you for what you have done!" He changed into his fighting stance and he let his rage fly._

He didn't dare go back there anymore. He didn't even know what was there now. But he always knew that there was once a field of flowers there; Seris' favourite flowers. He remembered what he had done to those demons who burnt down the place. He destroyed the Kenaz by giving them so much fire that they couldn't handle it and exploded. Then he burnt all the demons. Burnt the all alive. Burnt them until nothing remained but ash.

He still remembered the screams of the demons. He had let his rage do the work and at the time it was music to his ears. It had felt good making his enemies suffer. But now, as he thought, he shouldn't have let his rage fly. He should have given them all quick deaths instead of making them suffer slowly. Not because he was giving them mercy, of course, but because the Elgang were trying to find him and came across that same destroyed field, watching him burn the demons to the ground and laughing whenever the demons pleaded for him to stop.

Raven had controlled his rage ever since, knowing how destructive he could get, especially with the fact that he used fire as one of his weapons. It reassured him that he wasn't going to go out of control, that was the worst that could ever happen and he knew what he and his fire was capable of.

His mind drifted. He couldn't remember Seris at that time. He couldn't remember Seris now. And slowly, thinking about her, he fell asleep.

"Lunch is ready!" It was in the afternoon and Rena called everyone down for the meal. She had recently come back from the shops with Elsword buying Aisha chocolates. The elf had even offered to help choose the packaging and the small decorations that would go on the box. Aisha had been in her room the entire time; she usually sometimes went to town to walk around or just for a walk outside to get some fresh air. It was pretty unlike her to be staying in her room studying the entire time; she would complain about her back.

But that thought was quickly dismissed when Elsword came rushing down the stairs.  
>"I've hidden it in my room." Rena knew what he meant and nodded.<br>"Were you practicing that entire time?"  
>"Umm… yeah…"<br>"Look, just be confident and it'll all be over before you know it. I think Aisha likes you back too." The red-head blushed lightly.

"Errm, but she doesn't seem to be that fond of me. She keeps complaining at how I'm annoying and everything. She even says I'm so immature and childish and I'm sixteen!"  
>"I bet she's just hiding the fact that she likes you." The elf winked and Elsword smiled. They had talked quietly so no one could eavesdrop without them noticing. The Elemental Master came downstairs, holding onto a book and reading it. She almost tripped over on the stairs and the Rune Slayer was so close to diving to catch her.<p>

"Geez, Aisha, don't read while you walk. You could have gotten yourself killed there."  
>"I can catch myself with wind, Eldork."<br>"What did you just call me?"  
>"You deaf?"<br>"I'm not deaf! Why do you call me that anyway?"

"Because you are a dork!"  
>"How?!"<br>"You never seem to care about anyone else! Only yourself! That's a dork!"  
>"How am I? Give my an example!"<br>"Excuse me, but please don't argue, okay?" Rena spoke up and smiled, her signature murderous aura surrounding her.

Elsword and Aisha immediately turned nervous.  
>"S-sorry, Rena, umm…" He was too tense to answer the elf.<br>"Aisha, please don't call Elsword that next time, okay?"  
>"Ummm… O-okay…"<br>"Good. Now let's have lunch. Aisha, also please don't read while you walk." The magician slowly nodded before sitting down on the table since their food had already been prepared for them.

Eve, Chung, Oberon and Ophelia entered the dining room shortly after.  
>"How can you possibly stay in a workshop for so long?" Elsword asked.<br>"I needed to check the Freiturnier and Chung said it was alright if I gave it a few minor adjustments to make it a little lighter to wear. He said he wanted to understand how I did it, even though it involved complex Nasod technology. Since he seemed to be quite slow to learn it has taken us a lot longer than expected."

"Hey, I'm not that thick-skulled! I just knew almost nothing about Nasod technology. I know more about alchemy though." Chung shot back. "You needed to teach me the basics too!"  
>"Well, okay. Let's have lunch." Aisha said and the two sat down. Lunch was a few sandwiches with different fillings for each person.<br>"Sorry, we're running out of supplies and I need to go shopping. Why don't we go out for dinner tonight for an extra treat?" Rena suggested.

"Awesome!" Elsword pumped a fist into the air. "Why not?"  
>"The rest of you don't mind?" Everyone else slowly nodded.<br>"Okay, we're going out for dinner. Just expect the public to be a little different." The red-head shuddered at the thought. It was Valentine's Day after all.  
>"Hmm…? Raven hasn't come down. I'll go get him. He might have fallen asleep." The elf travelled upstairs.<p>

"See? This is what happens when you don't get enough sleep." Elsword spoke up.  
>"He's not necessarily sleeping. It is quite unlike him to sleep during the day." Eve countered with a monotonous tone.<br>"Let's ask when Raven comes down." The red-head began to stuff his face with the sandwiches. There were lots for him; everyone knew he liked to eat a lot. And now he was especially hungry after coming back from chocolate shopping. Of course, no one knew except for Rena.  
>"Elsword, don't eat so fast! It's bad for you!" Chung said, even though he knew Elsword wasn't listening.<p>

Meanwhile Rena reached Raven's room. His door was closed, as expected and she knocked on the door.  
>"Raven?" No reply. She knocked again. "Raven?" Again, no reply. If he was asleep he would have definitely woken up. Everyone knew that the Veteran Commander was a light sleeper; once they had gone camping and the quiet chirping of the birds in the morning had woken him, but not everyone else.<p>

"Okay, Raven. I'm coming in." She tentatively turned the knob and pushed the door open. His room was much plainer compared to hers, but she knew that it was just him. But what Rena saw made her blush and freeze on the spot. She tried her best to calm herself down and to stay quiet.

Raven was lying on his side and asleep, his blanket not covering him, his long hair fanned out. It looked like he had been thinking and had accidently dozed off. But he looked so peaceful to the elf's eyes. It was lunch time, and of course she knew that he needed to eat (he ate less than Elsword and she still wondered how he could survive, even though he was eleven years older), but she didn't want to wake him up, just in case he actually was tired.

But then she had to. Rena walked over to the sleeping Veteran Commander.  
>"Raven, it's lunch time." That would definitely have woken him up since she was standing in front of him, but it didn't. "Raven, wake up." He didn't even stir. She had never seen him go into a deep sleep. The elf tried one more measure. She put both hands on human arm and shook him gently.<p>

At first, he didn't stir either, and Rena was getting afraid that he might have been drugged or he had some kind of magic on him, but his eyes opened slowly.  
>"Umm… sorry, Raven. It's just that it's lunch time and… I needed to wake you up." He sat up slowly.<br>"Thanks, Rena. Wait, I fell asleep…"

"Yeah, you did…"  
>"Sorry. I shouldn't have. Did you call?"<br>"I did… I had to shake you to wake you up."  
>"… I'll go down now, and thanks for waking me up." He walked to head out of the room before he turned around, noticing that the elf was seemingly frozen to the spot.<p>

"Rena, you coming?"  
>"Oh, yeah, ummm… sorry, I was just thinking." She snapped out of her thoughts and walked out of the room along with him. Everyone was waiting at the bottom with Elsword already eating. Aisha saw Rena and Raven coming down the stairs and nudged the red-head, quickly whispering something to him that the two couldn't hear. He quickly put down the sandwich he was eating and finished his mouthful.<p>

"Sorry, I was hungry." Elsword apologised when the Wind Sneaker and the Veteran Commander had sat down.  
>"It's alright, Elsword. We all know you. Let's eat." Just like breakfast they all ate in silence until Chung piped up.<br>"Ummm… Anyone going out?"  
>"I'm not. Need to go and practice magic." The red-head answered.<p>

"I need to buy a book about runes. It seems interesting to me and I haven't really studied about it." Aisha said before taking another bite from her sandwich.  
>"I guess I'll be training and meditating…" Rena replied.<br>"I have some business to take care of." Raven said. The elf immediately got suspicious.  
>"Where are you going, Raven?"<p>

"It's something I need to do alone, so I can't tell any of you." That sounded even more suspicious, but they let it drop.

"I'm going to train. I also need to monitor Oberon and Ophelia's battle progress." Eve replied in her usual monotone voice.  
>"I'm going to test out the Freiturnier. Mind if you help me, Rena?" Chung turned to the elf.<br>"Sure, why not?" With that the Elgang again ate in silence until they finished, with Rena cleaning up.

Aisha had already exited the mansion after getting her money. Eve, Chung and Rena headed into the forest with their weapons as well as Oberon and Ophelia. Eve stopped earlier than them as she was going to test her two servants at how well they fought in a field full of obstacles which was the trees. Chung and Rena arrived at a clearing.  
>"So, did Eve only just make it a little lighter?" the elf questioned.<p>

"Yes. I don't feel any different so far, but I guess if I fight then I might be able to feel it." Chung replied and readied his Destroyer. "Let's go!" He charged at the elf with the massive cannon. Knowing that he would probably swing it Rena leapt backwards in the air, firing a volley of arrows in her air time. Then Chung decided to do something that he would never do as a test. He leapt backwards as high as he could. The armour allowed him, soaring into the air and dodging the arrows completely.

_Woah! It really is light now, which means that I can get into the air to get some height to attack._ Unfortunately, he couldn't shoot his Destroyer horizontally in the air; it would take some practice to get used to that. Instead he threw some grenades towards the ground. The elf was careful when she landed and before she was about to get back into the air again the explosives detonated, blue smoke going everywhere. It made the elf flinch for a split second but she made it into the air just in time to dodge bullets that came her way.

Now Rena could see the battlefield. The blue smoke was already disappearing and expected Chung to start shooting up at her. Instead he jumped up towards her, swinging his Destroyer and the elf who dodged nimbly and countered with a kick from both legs. Chung shot towards the ground from the force and a dust cloud went up from where he hit the ground.

Rena landed, her bow ready to shoot arrows. When the dust cloud cleared Chung began to laugh.  
>"That was so fun! I can finally jump now!"<br>"I noticed that. You seem to need practice using your Destroyer in the air but other than that Eve has just increased you mobility."  
>"I know. Being able to even jump is so much fun. I usually don't get to see things from a height because the Freiturnier is so heavy."<p>

"Well, how about you go and practice and experiment what works and what doesn't and I'll see if Eve needs any help, okay?" Chung nodded and Rena walked away with a smile on her face. She needed to tell the Queen of Nasods that Hamel's White Wolf was pretty happy with the adjustments in the Freiturnier.

As the elf approached she could hear the clashing of weapons between Oberon and Ophelia. Eve was sitting on one of her drones and watching the battle with content. When Rena was about to speak a hand went in her direction, motioning for her not to talk. A few awkward moments went by before Eve spoke.  
>"Oberon, Ophelia, pause. Yes, Rena?" She turned to the elf.<p>

"Firstly, Chung was able to jump pretty high because his armour was a lot lighter. Right now he's practicing at how he could use his Destroyer properly in mid-air. He's pretty happy." Eve didn't smile but she nodded.  
>"And?"<br>"Umm… Do you need any help at all?"  
>"Help me watch my servants; I want your opinion on them."<br>"Sure." The elf leant against a tree.

"Oberon, Ophelia, resume." They charged at each other, weapons clashing in close combat once again before Oberon hit his target hard enough to send her flying back. Ophelia used this chance to throw some pink grenades down. Her opponent avoided the detonations by jump from tree to tree, closing distance. Ophelia dashed underneath Oberon as he tried to pounce on her and released pink energy from her rod.

The masculine-type Nasod blocked with his two tonfas before countering with a shockwave, slashing in an X shape. Ophelia dodged again, sending pink electron balls at her opponent, who blocked with the tonfas. Just as Oberon touched the ground, the feminine-type Nasod struck her rod on the ground, creating a short-ranged shockwave that damaged its target.

Oberon barely flinched and almost landed a slash on Ophelia, who blocked the blow just in time. They clashed weapons before breaking apart again. Oberon changed into a defensive stance, a shield forming in front of it just in time to block a powerful attack of pink electricity that would paralyse it for a few seconds. That would have been enough time for it to be destroyed.

"Pause." Eve's simple instruction caused the two Nasods to stop fighting. "Rena, what do you think?"  
>"They look like they're able to fight as well by themselves as with you." The elf replied. "They're fast enough to be able to fight advanced opponents, but they probably fight a lot better together than apart or against each other."<p>

"Thank you. You may leave. I will commence my own training." Eve stood up and readied her drones. It looked like she was going to take on one of her servants by herself. Rena hoped that the Queen wouldn't get too badly hurt and walked in a different direction deeper into the forest. She found Elsword in a meditating position, levitating in the air with runes orbiting around him.

Rena had never seen the red-head do this before. He looked like he was concentrating, although she had no idea what he was doing.  
>"Umm… Elsword? What are you doing?" He didn't seem to hear her but a smile formed on his features. The elf wanted to test whether he could sense his surroundings by charging at him, ready to slap him across the face. She didn't want to kick him just in case he really couldn't sense his surroundings.<p>

One of the orbiting runes strayed from its orbital path and shot towards the elf, who dodged to the side.  
>"Hey, can you hear me?" The smile remained on his features. Rena performed crescent kicks, shockwaves flying towards the red-head. More runes strayed and countered the shockwaves. The runes replaced themselves and the elf sighed.<br>"Do you want me to fight you while you're like that?"

Elsword opened his eyes and dropped from the air, the runes disappearing.  
>"Yes, I could sense my surroundings and yes, I could hear you. I need more practice while I'm like that. I can't really move while I'm like that, but at least my runes are more concentrated. Thanks for helping me test it out."<br>"You're welcome. And I looked like an idiot, did I?" The red-head suppressed a laugh.  
>"You did. What are you doing here?"<p>

"Just seeing how you're doing."  
>"Wanna meditate with me?"<br>"Sure, why not?" Rena sat in a meditating position beside Elsword, who was the same. The runes came back to him as he floated up into the air, concentrating his magical power. Green orbs surrounded the elf as she floated up into the air beside him. Now she was completely oblivious about the time, but she was slowly getting the surroundings since her eyes were closed.

Every single tree around her now seemed to resonate with life, and so did Elsword. The magic around him was concentrated into the area around him. Now she was aware of the orbs floating around her, ready to attack anything that came too close. Rena could also feel her magical power rising. This would help strengthen her arrows and even some of her kicks.

The elf had no idea how much time had passed, but when she stopped meditating the position of the sun told her that it was late afternoon. She had been there for at least two hours. And Elsword was gone. Rena ran towards the mansion only to bump into the red-head who seemed to be in a hurry.  
>"What's with the hurry?"<p>

"I tried to follow Raven, but he found me and got really, really angry." The elf knew how scary he could get. "He told me to go back to the mansion and tell everyone not to follow him."  
>"Then where did he go?"<br>"He was going in the direction of Velder. I don't know why he's going there but maybe it's something got to do with his past. He came from Velder, remember?"

_Right… the capital was his hometown until…_  
>"I'm going to follow him." Rena decided.<br>"No! It might be something about his past. Just let him be."  
>"I need to make sure that he's going to be okay and not traumatise himself."<br>"How the heck would he traumatise himself anyway?"

"He's had nightmares before, I've heard him since I have a room next to his. He's woken up screaming before."  
>"You mean when he gets up to train?"<br>"Yes. Even if it's earlier than when he usually gets up he gets up anyway because he probably doesn't want to sleep anymore."  
>"… Oh." Now Elsword sympathised for the Veteran Commander. "How often does he get the nightmares?"<p>

"It's every once in a while." Knowing that Raven even woke up screaming was scary.  
>"Okay. But he might get really angry at you if he finds you following him. I'm not going to stop you, but don't blame me." Elsword gave up knowing how much the Wind Sneaker cared for the Veteran Commander.<br>"Thanks, Elsword."

"You might want to hurry up if you want to find him." The red-head went back inside the mansion, probably to check on Aisha and maybe even show off the meditation. The magician had most likely come back while the elf was meditating. The elf headed back inside the mansion as well, going to her room and uncovering a plain, red box from underneath her pillow. First she peeked outside, making sure no one was there, before taking the red box with her and running outside the mansion, travelling to Velder.

As she passed through Bethma she saw Stella having an argument with Richie. And it looked like she was winning. Eventually Richie gave up and sulked back into his house and as Stella turned she smiled as she saw Rena.  
>"Ah, Rena! Nice seeing you around here. What are you doing?"<br>"Well…"  
>"Oh, I see a red box. You giving someone a valentine?"<p>

"Maybe…"  
>"Mind if I ask who you're giving it to?"<br>"I don't really want to tell you, sorry…" The elf tried to be as polite as possible, only to get a smile from Stella.  
>"Nah, that's okay."<p>

"Stella?"  
>"Yes?"<br>"Have you seen Raven?"  
>"He passed by not too long ago, and I think I can guess why you want him."<br>"Ah, no, it's not for him." Rena lied. Stella seemed to buy it.  
>"Okay, and he seemed to be in a hurry. He told me he had some business to take care of and was heading off to Velder."<p>

"Thanks, Stella. I'll be off now."  
>"Happy Valentine's Day." The sheriff winked before returning to her own house. The elf continued on her journey and was soon at Feita. There she found Lento training as usual, but Allegro wasn't studying like he usually was. Rena approached the young boy, who looked very nervous.<br>"Hi, Allegro. Are you okay?"

"Umm… everyone's gone out to buy chocolates for each other… I don't have anyone… I feel left out…"  
>"It's okay. Maybe you'll get someone next year. Someone will fall for your cuteness for sure." The elf smiled and winked. The young alchemist blushed.<br>"Thank you… umm… okay, I'll take your advice."  
>"Sorry, I gotta go now. Bye!"<p>

"See you later." Rena walked further down the town. When she was sure that Allegro wasn't watching she hid behind a tree. The elf only had to wait a few moments before seeing Luriel walk up to Allegro. Luckily she was close enough to hear what they were saying.  
>"Umm… hi, Allegro."<p>

"Hello… umm, can I help you, Luriel?" He couldn't help but be nervous.  
>"Erm, this is weird, but…"<br>"What's wrong?"  
>"Umm…" Luriel hesitated before gathering her courage. "Happy Valentine's Day." She held out a pink box to Allegro.<p>

Both of them blushed. It probably felt really awkward.  
>"Ummm… thank you…" Allegro took the box before realizing what it meant.<br>"I… I like you…" Luriel confused before turning away, not wanting the young alchemist to see her blushing face.  
>"Umm… how about we… talk inside the tent? It's a bit… awkward out here…" Allegro suggested and the two disappeared inside the tent.<p>

Rena actually hoped that they would kiss, but she shook that thought aside. _I have to focus on what I'm meant to be doing._ And that was to find Raven. She continued down the road and soon arrived at the capital city of Velder. There were people everywhere, the shops filled with pink and red, selling products that were appropriate for the event. Most of the people either looked nervous or happy. The elf hoped that Raven wasn't feeling negative.

Then her mind went to what Elsword said that morning. _But what if Raven really is with someone else? _She looked down at the red box in her hands, still deciding whether it was worth it or not. The Wind Sneaker still wanted to know if the Veteran Commander was okay; she didn't want him hurting himself. _But where the El could he be? Velder is such a huge city, and he knows it better than me since he probably grew up here…_

Rena thought about their time in Velder and flicked through her memories if there was any places that Raven was fond of. Her mind immediately went to that event that event where they found him…

"_Where the heck is Raven? It's not him to just run off and disappear like that!" Elsword almost yelled in frustration as the Elgang ran through the forest surrounding Velder. It didn't take them long to reach a small cliff with a sight that made Rena gasp. It was a sight of death, of fire, of destruction._

_It was blanketed in black ash; it could only mean that there was once a lot of plants here. Probably beautiful ones too, the elf thought. But the Elgang looked down, and saw Raven was there, standing in front of demons that were screaming in pain. They were burning; they could only guess that the Veteran Commander had set them on fire. But why was he watching them?_

_His back was to them, so they couldn't see his face. The Elgang jumped down.  
>"Raven-" Elsword was cut off when they all heard another scream from the demons, one of them pleading for mercy. Then something happened that chilled all of them to their core. Raven let loose a laugh. A laugh that was familiar and unfamiliar at the same time. A laugh of insanity.<em>

"_How does it feel to get burnt alive? I don't believe it's pleasant, considering how many people you've killed this way." His voice was cold and merciless.  
>"Raven!" He didn't seem to hear Elsword.<br>"This is the least I can do to avenge the dead. I could have satisfied myself more by mutilating you, like you've also done to countless lives."  
>"Raven, stop it!" Again the Veteran Commander didn't hear. <em>

"_But I think it's more painful to burn instead of mutilate. It gives a slower, more painful death as the fire feeds on you until there is nothing left." The Elgang couldn't see his face, but they probably wouldn't have wanted to. He probably wore a smile. A grin.  
>"Raven! Can you hear me? Stop it!" Elsword yelled again. It was useless.<br>"I hope the fire is nowhere near done with you. I hope you all burn in Hell. If it's real and you have any souls, that is." _

_Raven laughed again. The red-head knew that now talking wasn't doing any good and put a hand on the Veteran Commander's shoulder, causing the half-Nasod to jolt.  
>"Raven, can you hear me now?" Elsword asked. Raven turned around, an expression of shock and horror still lingering on his features.<br>"Sorry I scared all of you. I just got so angry…_"

"_Just make sure you don't do that again, okay? And yeah, you scared us pretty badly, we all thought you went insane or something." Chung said. Everyone else had calmed down. Except for Rena. Raven walked over to the elf and put a hand on her shoulder, snapping her out of her state of shock.  
>"Rena? Are you okay?" The Veteran Commander had a concerned tone in his voice.<br>"Don't worry, I'm fine. Don't scare us like that again." _

"_I promise. I won't. Now for the demons…" They all faced the creatures. Chung fired off a few rounds, killing them before they hit the ground. Their bodies continued to burn.  
>"Well, they're dead now. Let's head back. And don't disappear like that on us because you actually did worry us." Elsword said.<br>"Sorry, it's just…"  
>"You don't need to tell us. They burnt up this place. You sensed it and tried to get there but it was too late. Let's go. It's getting late and we need to meet up with Vanessa."<em>

With that they had returned to town. Rena thought that what Elsword said wasn't right and that there was something else behind it, especially because Raven was laughing. The place must have had some importance to him, since its destruction made him so angry that he went insane. The elf decided that maybe the Veteran Commander would be there, even though the field was probably something completely different now. Or even the forest.

Nonetheless Rena headed towards that forest; everyone seemed to be too immersed in their current situation to pay attention to her. While she walked she noticed that her hands shook as they held the red box that contained the homemade chocolates that she was going to give to Raven. Was he really going to receive it? She started feeling nervous again and tried calming herself down by recalling Elsword's words. _Well, he can't be out with anyone else, and he might like me…_

Might. She still wasn't confident. But there was no turning back now. Ignoring her hands which were still shaking more violently than before she continued to walk through Velder. It didn't take long to reach the outskirts of the capital and the forest was right in front of her. Rena hastened her pace. She needed to find Raven. And for some reason she felt somewhat worried about him. Was it something about his past?

The Wind Sneaker didn't know. But the forest was huge; she had to search the entire place for him. She walked forward before reaching the small cliff where they had found Raven and the demons. The field was now covered in green grass that had quickly grown from the ashes. The Veteran Commander wasn't there. Rena turned back into the forest and walked, not knowing that she was walking towards the capital prison.

She picked up something in the wind. As she got closer she realised it was a voice talking; and it was only a solitary voice. Then she got closer and soon hid behind a tree to prevent herself from being seen. Rena had come across a clearing in the forest nearby to the capital prison, and Raven was in the middle with a bunch of small, blue flowers in his hands. And he was on his knees, and talking to a person unknown to the elf.

The Veteran Commander arrived at the clearing, the blue flowers in his hands. As he stared, the vision automatically began to play in his mind, making him grip his head with his Nasod claw. Raven dropped to his knees, wanting it to stop playing. It was that very event where he lost everything that was dear to him. Everything was violently torn away from him. And there was blood. And pain.

He had shut his eyes tightly to try and block it all out, but it was no use. He opened them again. Instead of the empty forest clearing in front of him there were the Velder soldiers slaughtering his comrades. The screams of his friends filled the air. Raven wanted to block it all out and covering his eyes did nothing. Soon it had died down considerably; but there was now blood everywhere. As well as the bodies of his friends who had been alive only a few seconds ago.

Alex held Seris in a lock in the middle of the clearing. Raven still remembered the words of his former friend clearly.  
>"Looks like I'll have to punish your fiancée too for aiding your escape." A smile twisted on Alex's features as he took out a knife, cutting her across the arm. She screamed in pain, but there was nothing Raven could do. He had been held down by Velder soldiers and forced to watch as his love was being slowly tortured to death.<p>

_No, Seris! _He remembered that he had yelled those words, and he heard himself yell those words, yet nothing came out of his mouth as Seris' other arm was cut. This time her face was not clouded; he had remembered when her features distorted in pain. He didn't know why he had remembered such a painful memory and not the moment when they shared their first kiss in front of that field of flowers.

As Seris was cut, the life blood splattering on the ground around her, Raven heard himself yell again and again. Alex's smile broadened. He could probably taste the power already. _Stop it, Alex! What has gotten into you? Why do want to inflict pain on others? You don't even deserve the position of captain if you defeat your opponents in such a way that lacks any honour! _

"How about this then?" Alex touched the point of the knife on Seris' heart. He laughed. It was a laugh Raven never wanted to hear again. Raven stayed silent, not knowing what to say. Alex went from behind and stabbed Seris in the back. The blade came out of her chest, her eyes wide open. _Seris!_ Her eyes shut and she went limp. Alex laughed again and dropped the body on the ground, slowly making his way towards Raven.

_Get away from me!_ He pretended not to hear, slashing a cross shape across Raven's chest, causing him to cry out in pain. More cuts around his waist and across his back caused him to scream. He wanted it to stop. Two small cuts across his face and he was already feeling significantly weaker.  
>"Don't drop him. Make sure that he sees everything. He'll join them all soon enough."<p>

_You-_ A stab to the side sent more pain into Raven, causing him to scream again. It was all so real; did he really remember this event that well? The pain grew more intense, just like it had when it really happened. _Stop it, damn it…_ He shut his eyes tightly. He was still slightly aware that he was on his knees with his hands covering his face. He could feel himself weakening as if he was bleeding quickly. If it went on he would pass out. _STOP IT!_

Raven opened his eyes and looked at the field in front of him. It was empty. There was no blood, no bodies, no soldiers, no Seris. He stood up, picking up the flowers in front of him. He remembered exactly where she had died. He touched his face to make sure the wounds weren't actually there. Raven's human hand met the scars on his face and something wet. He was surprised and quickly withdrew his hand to look at it. It wasn't blood, but tears.

He had been crying? Raven shook it off, and walked over to that spot where he knelt down and placed the bunch of forget-me-nots on the ground in front of him. The spot looked no different to everything else around it.  
>"Seris, can you hear me?" There was no answer. Of course there was no answer. She was gone forever.<p>

"I'm so sorry I broke my promise. I had forgotten it." Raven continued, as if there really was someone listening to him. "On Valentine's Day I was on a journey to atone for my sins. I'm not sure if you know what happened to me after I supposedly died along with you and my comrades." There was a silence. "I've finally remembered. I'm so sorry that it has taken me so long. But Valentine's Day is here. And I promised that I would give you a bunch of forget-me-nots on Valentine's Day. It is my gift to you today."

Again there was silence, but the Veteran Commander continued anyway.  
>"Now I've made friends, while atoning for my sins. Before they broke me from Nasod control I faced them in battle. Elsword was a Magic Knight at the time. He's the kid with red hair and he used magic in battle. He's a Rune Slayer now. Aisha was a High Magician, now Elemental Master. She's the girl with purple hair and uses elemental magic. Eve is the Queen of Nasods with the white hair and the blue gem on her forehead. She's very good with Nasod technology and she uses her drones, Moby and Remy. She also has her Nasod servants, Oberon and Ophelia."<p>

"There's Chung, that blonde kid who wields that giant cannon called a Destroyer. He came from Hamel, and he's actually the prince. He used alchemy to upgrade his Destroyer. And then there's Rena." He paused, and was completely unaware that the said elf was approaching the area, looking for him. "She… she looks just like you. Her personality is even very similar to yours. When I first met her I didn't know what to do."

"I protected all my friends, but her especially. I don't want that event to happen again, and it happened before because I couldn't protect you and my comrades. I was too weak. But now…" He held up his Nasod arm. "I'm back with a new weapon. Now I have better power to protect others. And about her, I couldn't tell whether I was falling again. She's like a mother to our group; she's one of the oldest along with Eve. She's an elf and hundreds of years old, and because of that she has a lot experience."

"I can't really tell whether she has any particular view on me, but… she just seems to concern me more than the others. I can't say anything at the moment, though. Okay, I think I'll let things be for the time being and see if anything happens over the course. I'll give you another bunch next year, at this same place. I'll… I'll see you again someday. Goodbye for now." Rena swore she heard Raven's voice crack at the last sentence and decided to come into the scene. She stepped out from the tree she was hiding behind as the Veteran Commander stood up, about to leave. "Raven?"

He quickly turned around to see the elf standing there and an expression of confusion and anger appeared on his features. "What are you doing here?" He realised and his eyes widened before they narrowed again, attacking the elf with a death glare. "How long have you been here? Why do you know where I am?" Rena recoiled at the harshness in his voice. What she was going to say slipped from her mind.  
>"Umm…"<br>"Elsword told you, didn't he?" The elf tried to gather her confidence.

"I asked him."  
>"Why did you?! I told him not to say anything!"<br>"I was going to check if you were alright!"  
>"Rena, why do you think I'm not okay?"<br>"Because I don't want you going out there and traumatising yourself! The past is the past, you need to learn to overcome that, not just stick there without moving on!"

Those words did some damage, Rena could tell. Raven paused a little before he spoke again.  
>"Why do you think I would be traumatising myself? And why do you think I would do it because it's Valentine's Day?!" She was suddenly aware of the red box that she was thankfully holding behind her back. The Veteran Commander hadn't noticed.<br>"Because I know you're the type of person to do that! You've woken up screaming before, I've heard you!"

Raven flinched again.  
>"That doesn't matter to you, does it?" His words were dripping with venom.<br>"Yes it does! We need to all be happy, okay? I hate seeing any of you sad or angry or anything! Do you think there's any other reason why I break up the arguments between Elsword and Aisha?"  
>"But that's them! I can handle this by myself!"<br>"You can't! You're still stuck in the past! You can't remember her, right?"

That hit Raven even harder.  
>"Don't you dare bring her up in this!"<br>"That's just a piece of memory that you can't get back. She's gone now, you have to acknowledge that! You have to move on!"  
>"What do you mean by that? Forget her?"<br>"I've met people who still mourn over their loved ones and they're miserable pretty much all the time! I don't want you to be like that!"

"And how am I miserable?!"  
>"That scowl of yours is still fixated on your face, and it's been there ever since I met you!"<br>"Do you mind it? Not everyone smiles every day, you know!"  
>"I know, I just…" Rena finally regained her senses. It wasn't Raven to argue, especially with her. "It's rare to see you genuinely smile, and I wished that you could smile more, but because of your past it's obvious that you can't, right?" She wasn't shouting anymore, and looked down.<p>

"…" Raven calmed down and realised what he had done. "Sorry, it's just…"  
>"It's alright, I understand. I should be the one apologising." She began to walk away. The Veteran Commander looked back onto the bunch of flowers he left on the forest floor, only to find that there was an envelope next to it.<br>"Rena, did you put that there?" Anger was starting to rise again and the elf detected this.

"I didn't. But you should check it out." Raven slowly walked over to it. Rena was still standing there and watching. She really wanted to know who it was from. Raven picked up the envelope, which had numerous gold patterns on it. The seal was also a gold colour. _Wait… it looks awfully familiar. _Then he realised. It was an envelope that Seris had used to send him a letter when she was away on a holiday.

He gently opened the seal and unfolded the letter inside. It was written in that blue ink; the ink of Seris' favourite pen.

_Raven,  
>Thank you so much for the forget-me-nots. I forgive you that you had forgotten, but you've made up for it by giving me a bunch this year. <em>

It was in Seris' handwriting. Raven's eyes widened in shock. No, she can't be alive. He saw her die. But what he read next answered his question.

_Yes, I'm up there, and writing a letter to you. I'm not sure how it works, but I hope that it gets through. I cannot come down here, but I can watch from above. So if you are talking to me, I can hear you, but I cannot answer you. I'm sorry._

Why was she apologising? It was his fault that she died. He couldn't protect her. He felt relieved that he really was talking to someone a few minutes ago.

_Your friends sound like wonderful people. Elsword allowed you to join them in searching for the El, even though you had caused all that destruction and trouble to the Ponggos. He trusted you and gave you a second chance. Aisha seems like she only wanted to get her powers back, but really she had already gotten them back, and she hadn't lost anything in the first place. She had determination, and that matters. Remember to tell her when you see her next time._

_I know that Eve wants to revive her people, and that would take a lot of work, but tell her that she can't do it without her friends. She may be the Queen of Nasods, but with numbers comes power. Elsword has already demonstrated this to her, but it's hard to tell whether she's learnt the lesson or not._ _And for Chung... his dad couldn't teach him because he got corrupted. He probably has more experience now that he's journeyed around with you and everyone else, but still, it's good to give him some life advice every now and then._

Tears had already clouded his vision and were threatening to spill out. He missed her so much already. He could hear her voice in his head as he read on; that sweet voice that he yearned for so much, yet could not hear in person again.

_And about the elf, Rena. From a bystander's point of view it does look like that you're more attached to her than the rest of your friends. Is it because the way she acts towards you? Or is it because of her similarities to me?_

Raven didn't know how to answer. It was like he wanted to stay away from the elf because of the way it reminded him so much about his painful past, and yet at the same time it drew him towards her. She reminded him so much of Seris; a person that he missed badly. Now that he really thought about it, Rena seemed to be a little more protective of him than the rest of the Elgang… He continued to read.

_You observe that she is so similar to me, in terms of both personality and appearance. I think you once told me that I was the perfect girl for any kind of man. Therefore she is also the perfect woman._

Raven almost audibly gasped. Rena wasn't- he thought about it. What Seris was saying was really sinking in. But there was no way that he would see Rena as a replacement. There was only one of Seris, and she was gone.

_I can tell that you are holding back because you don't want me to feel that I got replaced. Well, I'm going to tell you now that I'm not going to. _

The Veteran Commander was confused.

_She is the perfect girl for you, just like I was. And all I want for you is to be happy. To move on with your life. The past is the past, and you know that I'm gone, but you have to embrace your present and your future. I know how much you have to go through each day, so being stuck in the past is only going to make things worse. So please, move on, continue to live your life, and accept that the past is gone. And most importantly, accept Rena. _

He really was falling for the elf, he realised. Tears were freely running down his cheeks, but no sound came out from his lips. There were only a few more words left on the page.

_Don't try and join me. It just means that you really are stubborn. I'm not going to accept you if you purposefully did that. Enjoy life. Let the elf into your heart, and it'll fill all the empty spaces.  
>I love you.<br>Seris_

That was it. That was the letter from Seris. He was still unaware that Rena was behind him, watching him slowly break down.  
>"Seris… I miss you so much…" He began to cry freely, his human hand covering his face, his Nasod hand holding the letter.<p>

The elf watched and heard Raven as he cried. She wanted to go up to him and give him a hug, but there was no way that even she would be able to comfort him in this kind of situation. Suddenly a wind blew, the letter flying out of the Veteran Commander's Nasod arm. He jumped and tried to grab it again, but it failed, just out of reach. It began to sail way into the sky.

Rena immediately snapped out of her trance and ran forward, jumping upwards and landing on a thick tree branch before propelling herself as high as she could towards the letter. At first she missed as she grabbed at it, but she kept on trying, eventually getting hold of it. The elf began to descend, landing on a tree branch before jumping off it and landing on the ground to face Raven.

He was still frozen on the spot. The elf walked over to the Veteran Commander. There were tears still on his face.  
>"Raven, I… got the letter back for you." She handed the piece of paper to him. He took it gingerly.<br>"Th-thank you…" His voice was still cracking from crying.

Rena wanted to hug him, but the gift was still in her hands behind her. Thankfully she hadn't dropped it when she was retrieving the letter.  
>"Wait, what's that behind your back…?" Raven had finally noticed.<br>"Um… you're probably not going to accept this…"  
>"Just… answer my question…"<p>

The elf pulled out the red box and when the Veteran Commander saw it he knew immediately what it was. Now that she didn't have to hide the box anymore and she couldn't resist wrapping her arms around Raven. He didn't resist. She released after a good few seconds and wiped the tears from his face.  
>"I don't think she would want you to cry, right?"<p>

Her touch felt so silky. Just like Seris.  
>"So… do you accept it? I'll understand if you don't." Rena's words snapped him out of his thoughts. His mind went back to the letter as he looked down on the red box that the elf was holding out towards him. <em>She told me I should move on with my life and accept Rena… But would it help?<em> The words slipped out his mouth before he could stop them.  
>"I'll accept it."<p>

Rena couldn't believe what she was hearing. It was a Valentine's Day gift. She had just basically confessed. And Raven was accepting. He took the box and she noticed that he wasn't that sad anymore.  
>"Can… can I open it?"<br>"Sure, go ahead." He opened it. All the chocolates were small squares, all wrapped with red foil. The Veteran Commander took one, unwrapped it and put it into his mouth, chewing slowly.

It seemed to be milk chocolate; the chocolate that he was fond of most, although he wasn't fond of sweets in particular. Seris knew that, and she would buy different ones just to see which ones he liked best. This one was so far his favourite.  
>"It's quite nice. Where did you buy it?"<br>"Umm… I made it myself. I got up earlier than you to make it." Rena blushed and turned way to hide her face.

"Thank you, Rena. For both the Valentine's gift and for the letter." Raven smiled. A genuine smile. The elf saw it from the corner of her eye and blushed harder. The Veteran Commander reached out and put a human hand on the Wind Sneaker's cheek, turning her around to face him.  
>"About this morning, I'm sorry. I lied to you and everyone else and now I understand why you sounded so upset. You wanted to give me the gift and confess?" She nodded, too nervous to say anything.<p>

"Okay. I know that she's gone now, but you're right. I need to move on with my life. That's what she told me, too. I'm sorry also that I shouted at you."  
>"Well, it's alright. It's about your past; I understand." Rena realised that neither person could stall the events for much longer.<br>"You looked so much like her; I didn't know what to do. I didn't want her to feel replaced or anything. But she made it all clear to me in the letter." He held it up.

The elf actually couldn't wait much longer.  
>"Umm… Raven, can we-" He smiled again, almost a smirk.<br>"I won't waste any more time." Then his lips were on hers. He tasted just like the chocolate he ate a few moments ago, and Rena couldn't help but admire how much of a cook she was. Her heart raced and she kissed him back.

After what seemed like a long time they pulled apart.  
>"That was your first kiss?" Rena nodded, still blushing and not believing what had just happened.<br>"I… kind of enjoyed that…"  
>"You're meant to." Raven kissed her again, his tongue slipping into her mouth.<p>

Rena felt her heart accelerate even more as his tongue explored her mouth. She decided to do the same, tasting that chocolate again. They pulled apart; the elf was now too flustered to say anything.  
>"Let's go back to see how Elsword and Aisha are doing." The Wind Sneaker finally came to her senses.<br>"They like each other. Elsword confessed to me because he guessed that I liked you."

"And?"  
>"I was getting really nervous that you wouldn't accept the valentine, but he comforted me. He hasn't had any experience yet with girls, though. In return he said that I go to the shops with him and help him get some chocolate for Aisha because he didn't know which ones were good and which ones were bad."<br>"Well, he's finally confessed. Let's hurry and hope that we don't miss the show." Rena smiled and they picked up their pace.

Elsword was standing in front of Aisha's room with the box of chocolates in his hand. It was red, just like Rena's, but the chocolates inside were purchased instead of made. _Okay, Elsword, no turning back now. It's either now or never._ He was about to knock on the door before the door opened and Aisha almost crashed into the red-head.  
>"Elsword! What are you doing here?" She noticed that he was holding something behind his back.<p>

"Well, uh, Aisha…" He too noticed that Aisha was holding something behind her back and hoped that it was a valentine for him.  
>"You shouldn't just stand there looking like an idiot you know."<br>"Hey! I'm not an idiot!"  
>"Ugh, fine. Just go away." The Elemental Master was about to shut the door when the Rune Slayer put a foot in the way.<p>

"What do you want?" She was getting annoyed.  
>"Can we please stop being angry at each other?" They hadn't even noticed that Rena had walked up to them and was now beside them. Her smile emphasized her anger even more.<br>"Umm… sorry, Rena…" Elsword was even more nervous.  
>"It's okay, Elsword. What happened to your courage?"<p>

"Huh, Rena, what are you talking about?" Aisha questioned and the red-head got a chance.  
>"What are you hiding, Aisha?" He taunted, causing the purple-haired girl to turn red from anger before a grin appeared on her features.<br>"What are you hiding, Elsword?" She imitated his voice and he hesitated.  
>"How about we'll show them at the same time?" Rena suggested. She already knew what was coming.<p>

"Three, two, one!" They counted down together and showed their gifts. Elsword and Aisha audibly gasped when they saw the tags on the boxes. The red-head's one wrote "To Aisha" and the purple-head's one wrote "To Elsword."  
>"What a pleasant surprise! Now you have all formally confessed your love to each other!" The elf exclaimed. Finally they were going to get together.<p>

"Umm… Aisha…" The Rune Slayer's face was the same shade as his hair.  
>"Umm…" The Elemental Master couldn't think of anything smart to say, either. "How about you can come to my room and then we'll talk…" They both went into the room and shut the door. Rena's smile stayed. She couldn't wait for them to kiss.<p>

Raven came up the stairs, completely aware of what had just happened.  
>"Wow, they really are growing up now." Rena whispered so that Elsword and Aisha couldn't hear them from inside the room. The Veteran Commander silently agreed. Both of them leaned towards the door of the Elemental Master's room, listening to what the red-head and the purple-head were saying. Luckily they were talking loud enough and wasn't aware of the fact that they were being eavesdropped on.<p>

"Um… so, what did you want me for, anyway?" It was Elsword.  
>"Just to talk in private. It's creepy having someone there."<br>"Okay… what about?"

"…" An awkward silence hung in the air which at first sounded promising.  
>"Actually, screw this." Elsword said.<p>

"Els-" Raven and Rena knew what happened next and the elf had to hold back a squeal. The Veteran Commander noticed this and dragged the Wind Sneaker downstairs and outside.  
>"… You could have blown our cover."<br>"I know, I'm sorry." There was a pause as Rena thought of something to say. "Hey, let's go check on Eve and Chung and see how their training's going." Raven agreed, following the elf as she lead the way.

"Errm… excuse me, Eve…" Chung approached the Nasod, who was talking to her servants.  
>"Our training has just finished. What do you want to tell me?"<br>"Umm… this is awkward, but…"  
>"What are you hiding behind your back?"<br>"… Well…" After a few awkward moments the Tactical Trooper finally gathered his courage to talk properly.

"I know that you don't have emotions, but I still felt like I needed to get you something for Valentine's Day." He held out a light pink box that was beautifully decorated. "I bought some chocolates because, well, I like you, even though I know that you can't return my feelings." Another pause.  
>"I believe that there is a way for me to return your emotions."<br>"Huh?"

"The tradition of Valentine's Day is to send a gift to someone that you hold feelings for. Of course the sender will feel better if the recipient accepts the gift." Chung's features lit up. "I accept the gift. Unfortunately I don't see you in any way different that I saw you before." The Tactical Trooper expected that answer, but it felt like a lot of weight had lifted off his shoulders.  
>"Thanks, Eve."<p>

"You are welcome. Other than that is there any other reason you came?"  
>"Err… I kind of wanted to talk."<br>"There is nothing else on the schedule for the day. You are free to talk to me." Eve enlarged Remy before sitting down on it. She also enlarged Moby, inviting Chung to sit down as well.  
>"Umm… thanks, Eve." They began their conversation. Little did they know that a certain elf and half-Nasod was in the distance, watching and listening.<p>

Raven again had to drag Rena back to the mansion because if she made any noises or tried to talk Eve would sense them.  
>"Raven! Stop dragging me away. I wanted to listen on." The Wind Sneaker whined and pouted. The Veteran Commander resisted the urge to sigh.<br>"You were about to start talking or squealing, and I think it's better that we retreat back to the mansion instead of getting slapped and shot at."

"Well… good point. At least Valentine's Day worked out for everyone." Rena smiled at Raven, who smiled back.  
>"Wait… that's the sunset…" And he was right. The sky had changed into brilliant shades of pink and orange.<br>"Let's watch it from a higher place. At home." Their minds immediately went to the rooftop of their mansion.

After managing to jump up there (with the Veteran Commander having a little difficulty), they found a comfortable spot to sit together. Spread out before them was the entire landmass of Lurensia. Right below them was Ruben with the Tree of El to the side. Then there was the more commercial town of Elder, the dry mountains where Bethma stood, the floating island of Altera, the Altar of Dedication in Feita and the grand capital of Velder.

"Wow, it's really amazing…" Rena commented after a silence. It reminded Raven so much of that field of blue flowers and the sunset. He didn't know which one was better. They turned to face each other.  
>"Well… I love you."<br>"I love you too." Her lips were so soft, smooth and sweet, Raven realised.

Just like Seris'.

**Skyress8619: And finally finished on Valentine's Day even though I intended for it to be finished a week earlier as my beta-reader (who happens to be my cousin) seemed rather busy at school even though we're three weeks in. Since Elrios was separated into two parts the one that we start in (the towns all the way up to Velder) is called Lurensia. That seems to be the only viable reason why Port Lurensia is so named. **

**Skyress8619: Most of the progress on this story was done while I travel on the bus to and from school, mainly because I do not wish for my friends to be reading this rather embarrassing story. Everyone knows that I am mainly into the action/adventure kind of books and stories, and it is pretty much only between my younger sister and I that I also enjoy romantic stories, which the vast majority is Fanfiction. My parents don't usually allow me on my computer when I'm at home.**

**Elsword: … Wow. How long did it take you to write this story?**

**Skyress8619: I don't remember. But all I know is that it took far too long. Now that this story is out of the way I most likely will start a requested story from my cousin and finish the other one I'm working on (it's very close to completion).**

**Skyress8619: The only thing that urges for me to post is that it is Valentine's Day, which is, as far as I know, an international event. Usually I would not be posting because of my lack of confidence, but now that this is up, I would greatly appreciate opinions from the readers to know whether I have done the right job. Before you do, however, I think that it is important for you to know that I am particularly picky whenever it comes to personalities, which is why I try my best to pick the classes properly. Please comment on that especially, and don't be afraid to yell/flame at me; I don't mind it at all since I am rather used to it. **

**Skyress8619: You will also find that other authors seem to be quite "normal" as my beta-reader puts it and that I am not in terms of my language. I try my best to be as formal as possible all the time.**

**Elsword: Why the heck would you do that?**

**Skyress8619: Because… It's about what happened after careful evaluation and reflection of my past behaviour. Also, credits to my beta-reader. And last but not least, apologies for the fact that this is posted four days after Valentine's Day. That's all I have to say. **

**Skyress8619 has logged off.**


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